Digital addiction and mental health-related variables in young people: A comparative study of Spain and Indonesia

The increasing use of the Internet and social media has led to growing concerns about their impact on mental health, particularly among young people. Different studies have shown that young adults are susceptible to digital addiction across different parts of the globe. This study aimed to compare digital addiction (symptoms, nomophobia, and daily digital media usage) and mental health-related variables (anxiety, depressive symptoms, loneliness, and self-esteem) in 773 university students from Spain and Indonesia (M_age = 20.31, SD = 2.54). They completed an online survey, with the following measures: Addiction Risk to Social Networks and Internet Scale (AR-SNIS), Social Anxiety Scale (SAS-A), Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD-10), and UCLA Loneliness Scale, as well as one question regarding daily digital media usage. The results showed significant correlations between the variables, and that Indonesian participants showed more addiction symptoms (U = 38,970.5, p < .001), nomophobia (U = 33,436, p < .001), daily digital media usage (c² = 41.17, df = 3, p < .001), anxiety (U = 40,885, p < .001) and loneliness (U = 54,358, p < .001) than the Spanish sample, who showed lower self-esteem (U = 42,286, p < .001). This comparative study between two countries that represent diverse cultural contexts aimed to provide insights into the structural and situational factors of digital addiction and its impact on mental health. Early identification of problematic behaviors associated with digital addiction may prevent the development of future psychological consequences and promote interventions for healthy digital use.